27 April 2014
Buzz Ethiopia
How big is Africa? It’s fair to say that Africa is probably bigger than you think, even if you know it covers approximately 30,221,000 sq km (11,699,000 sq mi).
How big is Africa? You can see from this map created by Kai Krause, that Africa is large. If you combine the USA, China, India, Europe and Japan – they all fit into the continent of Africa. Click on the map to see it in detail. The US can fit comfortably no less than three times. The UK can fit into Africa over 120 times. Even those of us who were educated in Africa may be surprised at these statistics. That’s because the geography books at school tend to originate from Europe or the US, and show a proportionally skewed perspective of the world.
Why Should Size Matter?
The fact that Africa is much bigger than most people realize just goes to show how little people know about the continent. This is not just a giant slab of land that’s filled with poverty, disease and war. There are 54 nations in Africa, with cities, towns and villages. This is not a piece of land that can be generalized. A simple reality check by looking at this type of map, will hopefully lead at least some to find out a little more about the continent.